Let’s pretend it hasn’t been 2.5 years since I published a blog post.

Deal?

Awesome.

It struck me that I miss talking to the great unknown of the Internet. I felt I needed to tell you a couple things about the last few years.

• In December 2019 I became foster mother to a 2-year old boy. We call him Jude, for privacy. I said goodbye to him in August 2020. In October 2020 we took in a newborn boy, Ryke, who left us a couple days later. In November 2020 I took in a newborn girl, Coco. We said goodbye to her in March 2021, then a second goodbye in December 2022.  In July 2021 I took in a 2-year old boy named Eden. We said goodbye to him a few short weeks later.  In November 2021 I took in a 5-month old baby, River. He was with us for 10 months. And, two weeks ago, I took in a 6-year old boy, Gale. Time will tell how long he stays. So…That’s a lot in the last few years.
• In addition, finished and released my biggest body of work to date, Samsara. It consists of 29 mixed media original images, sculpture, redacted eulogy poetry, and video. It’s currently on display at the JoAnne Artman Gallery in NYC and the opening is March 9. I’ll be there!
• I started running a fine art business intensive class that opens once a year, called Impact in Focus.
• I resumed my annual convention, Promoting Passion. The next one is coming up in October in Georgia, and registration opens soon.
• I’m continuing to run the photography school for survivors of human trafficking, The Light Space. Our fearless leader Melissa Stiefel has been in Kolkata, India the past four months teaching.
• I made a new video series with Sony called Facing Creativity, and I’m extremely proud of it.
• I got my own studio in downtown Flagstaff, AZ.
• And, I finished my novel and am now pitching it to agents.

Phew.

How are you?

Honestly, that’s all this is. Just a hello in the great unknown.

And, a few things I learned the past 2.5 years:

1. Nothing is permanent. After welcoming 6 kids into my home and saying goodbye to 5 so far, I’ve experienced so much heartbreak over the past few years it may take me a long time to process it. But I know this. Nothing is permanent. The newness of your next endeavor will inevitably turn to comfort. The comfort will turn to sorrow. The pain will turn to joy, and back again. We’re all in a cycle of life, not a still image of it.
2. Life’s too short to not rewrite the negative stories you tell yourself.
3. The greatest thing I can do with my time is connect. In my own way. Through my art. My new mission in the past few years has become to destigmatize grief, and that, right now, is my life’s purpose.

All love, fellow creators.